UPDATE: 300 + Migrants Detained @ Albany County Jail Receiving Legal Assistance via Detention Outreach Project

July 18th, 2018

Remain separated from families

NEW YORK, NY - Today, lawyers from the Detention Outreach Project, a collaboration between the New York Immigration Coalition, the Immigration Law Clinic at Albany Law School, and the Legal Project, provided updates on the more than 300 migrants relocated from the Southern border, and currently detained at the Albany County Jail.

Listen to the recording of the press call below:


Attorneys have already met with approximately 211 of the more than 300 immigrants currently held at the Albany County Jail. Attorneys have screened individual detainees, provided group and one-on-one presentations on the asylum process, and assisted with individual issues such as family separation or medical needs. Migrants range from 18 to 66 years old.

Steven Choi, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition, issued the following statement:

“What we are witnessing in Albany is the most literal example of how the Trump administration dehumanizes and criminalizes immigrants, shipping them across the country like cargo to be detained. The lawyers on the ground are working around the clock to provide legal assistance and a pathway forward for people seeking asylum.”

Sarah Rogerson, Director of the Immigration Law Clinic at Albany Law School, said:

“In an unprecedented turn of events, the southern border has been brought to Albany. Lawyers across the state have risen to an enormous task of setting up a legal rapid response from within a jail, and ensuring that these individuals have their rights protected no matter what."

Despite assurances from ICE, at least 22 individuals at the jail have been separated from their family, including at least 10 from children who are minors.

The people being held represent a total of 27 countries, speaking 11 different languages, including; Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Gujarati, Hindi, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, and Tigrinya.

Background:

In the past few weeks, the Department of Homeland Security has effectively brought the Southern Border to New York, transferring hundreds of migrants to a local jail outside Albany. In response, The Immigration Law Clinic at Albany Law School, the Legal Project of Albany, and the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) have launched the Detention Outreach Project to meet the legal needs of immigrants detained at Albany County Jail.